Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has announced that it has launched its Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in five new cities, with a total of 200 base stations deployed in Makkah, Madinah, Abha, Khamis Mushayt and Dhahran. STC’s LTE network, which launched in mid-September, one day after its rival Mobily, already covers key locations such as Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Jubail, Alkhobar and Al-Ahsa.

The latest deployment means that STC has now rolled out in excess of 600 LTE base stations across the country. As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, September 2011 saw Mobily, STC and Zain Saudi Arabia all inaugurate LTE services within the space of 24 hours, with all three cellcos staking a claim to be the first cellco in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to launch a commercial LTE network.